Svetlana/boyfriend/drug

[Alina Israeli]

>Far be it from me to question the innocence of Russian maidens,
....

>Apparently this was a normal phenomenon among European peasantry (I assume
>the %% were raised by bottom-up behavior, not top-down).  One motive was
>supposed to be that fertility was so important that demonstrating it
>trumped virginity.

I suppose it all depended and least in Russia as to who was the father of
the illegitimate progeny. For the serfs if would hardly be surprising to
bear children of the master.

But don't forget that Bednaja Liza (Svetlana's contemporary) committed a
suicide.

>but I
>assume that we would never read explicit references, and must read between
>the lines.  I suggest that the phrase "umeret' v grusti odinokoj" is a
>significant hint.  Also, I am sceptical about the reality of "platonic"
>except as a literary affectation among high society elements.

Given that Zhukovskij was an illegitimate child himself and unable to marry
the woman he loved I would be very skeptical about reading sexual
encounters between his lines.

>Also, the
>concept must be different for men and women.  A friend once claimed that
>for a man, a "platonic" friendship is either pre- or post- "non-platonic".
>I have a feeling that Pushkin would agree.  (Of course, there are other
>considerations, e.g., patronage, social connections, etc., and certainly
>after the guys get old and wise...but the women in Svetlana were "devushki".)
>

Oh, of course, Pushkin would. He kept track of his love affairs and Natalia
Goncharova was number 113 by his own count (if I remember the numbers
correctly). I wonder if it corresponded to the average for his circle and
we could use him as a model. He could be also quoted on the subject of
"brjuxataja gramota" to Vjazemskij and having "vybljadki". I somehow doubt
his record is typical.

Best,
Alina Israeli

**************************************************************
Alina Israeli
LFS, American University                phone:  (202) 885-2387
4400 Mass. Ave., NW                     fax:    (202) 885-1076
Washington, DC 20016

aisrael at american.edu

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